


Bittersweet

by kissumi



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Love Alarm au, M/M, but not really enemies to lovers bc kuroo is a whipped man YUP, enemies to lovers AU, excessive obliviousness at some point, i'm here to celebrate the announcement of love alarm s2 WOOO, praying for the reader as we speak, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:13:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29495601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kissumi/pseuds/kissumi
Summary: With the voices spreading fast through your school's hallway, everyone has immediately downloaded the new app, the Love Alarm. An app which tells you if someone loves you within a ten meter radius.ORIn which your worst enemy that you've pledged to despise for the rest of your life, rings your Love Alarm everytime he comes around.
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 41





	Bittersweet

Kuroo Tetsuro is going to be the cause of his own death.

He's going to be the cause of his own death as he's writing your name down the piece of paper given to him by the teacher. He feels a knot in his stomach just thinking about getting paired up with you for the assigned project. Everyone would think that he has no other choice than to choose you as his partner, considering that the two of you have basically the highest grades in class.

It wouldn't be a problem to do an important project together if only the two of you weren't at each other's throat on a daily basis, probably even way before you were even born, arguing telepathically through your mothers' womb.  
None of you have a clear idea of how this bond (is that even the right word to name whatever the two of you have?) started: maybe the cause could've been that time he threw away and broke the gameboy Kenma gave to you back in kindergarten for absolutely no reason, and you stopped playing with everyone for a whole month.  
Or maybe, in elementary, when he wrote your name instead of his on the quiz's papers, leading the teacher to give you a bad mark instead (he actually did study, but his mind was too focused 'elsewhere' at that moment).

And of course, what's worse than seeing you in class every day after so many years of arguing endlessly over the smallest and stupidest things ever? Doing a project together.

Your teacher trusts Kuroo enough to let him choose a partner, all thanks to his impeccable knowledge on the subject as the model student that he is, as many like to define him as.  
And now he is looking at the piece of paper in disbelief, as if the one who has just written your name next to his was definitely not him. He's about to erase your name — which he thankfully wrote with his pencil — but the bell rings, signaling the end of classes.

The dark haired man curses under his breath and with no other choice, he hands the folded sheet to his teacher, forcing a polite smile as he heads out of the class along with the other students and you. Of course.  
He sighs upon seeing you talking lively with his friends. The worst of it all, as if having you as his classmate couldn't be any worse, is the two of you having the same group of friends. Just what kind of sick joke is the Devil playing with him?

"Speaking of the Devil…" A glare's shot towards Yaku's direction by Kuroo as he finally joins into the conversation.  
He's quick to divert his gaze from you upon noticing that you're not even bothering to spare him a single glance, "Talking 'bout me?"  
Kenma's the first one to respond, nodding absent-mindedly as his attention is completely fixated back on his phone, probably trying to finish his nth level from Genshin Impact. 

"Yup," Yaku attempts to snake his arm around Kuroo's shoulder as his usual buddy-buddy thing sign, to which he fails miserably. He's not gonna lie there, for a moment he completely forgot how tall his friend is.  
"Have you heard of the new app? The love alarm?" Excitement is more than clear under Lev's tone, who's standing right beside you. And by the way, you're not even paying attention to the conversation anymore, too absorbed in whatever you're doing on your phone like Kenma.

"The love what?" Kuroo asks, eyebrows knitted in confusion.  
"The love alarm," Kenma puts his phone back into his pocket, "An app which automatically tells you if someone loves you within a 10-meter radius."  
A snicker escapes Kuroo's lips, "Something like that exists?"

The three guys look around silently, leading him to follow their gazes as well. Much to his surprise, the hallway is full of students holding their phone, most of them almost doing the same thing: staring at their screen and giggling with each other, an unknown sound to him like a ringing bell coming from their devices, probably signaling that their crush has feelings for them as well. Now, this is another sick joke on a different level.

Kuroo shakes his head, still incredulous, "Okay, okay, hold on," He looks back at his friends, including you, still unbothered to listen, "You're telling me that with that app, our own phones can... find out if someone likes us?"  
"Within a 10-meter radius."  
"Yeah, that."  
"And we were talking about how your phone would most probably blow up if you ever get that app." Oh, well Yaku did not lie at all about that. Kuroo's known as a charming guy with many admirers, all thanks to the fame he has gotten during his high school days as Nekoma's volleyball captain.

A sudden ring interrupts the whole conversation, loud enough to get the four guys' attention, all directed towards the phone it just came from, that being yours.  
Yaku's staring at you in disbelief, familiar with the ringing of the new application everyone's been talking about for days already, "You downloaded it?"  
You simply nod, the screen of your phone showing the Love Alarm, one single heart floating on the drawn circle signaling the following words: 

'Someone within a 10-meters radius loves you!'

Kuroo stares at your unbreakable expression, not a single smile spreading across your face as you, Yaku and Lev are all focused on your phone's screen.  
"That can't be real, right?" Kuroo questions, and he swears he can hear Kenma snicker next to him.  
"Dunno. Why? Jealous that people love me?" You challenge him as per usual, silence instantly falling upon your friends.  
The dark haired man grunts, something about your teasing tone ticking him off.  
"You'll see when I'll download the app."

Kuroo Tetsuro is going to be the cause of his own death. Again.

He hasn't even surpassed the gate of his school's building yet and his phone keeps buzzing non-stop. He's lucky enough to have too much patience in him to not turn the device off, his main goal still far the closer he's getting to the building. 

After what happened the day before, as soon as Kuroo got home, he really didn't waste time in downloading the Love Alarm for the sole purpose of showing the results off to you, still nowhere to be seen the moment he finally gets into the classroom.  
He looks around as he grabs his phone from his pocket, a few hearts still showing on the screen and he can only give a polite smile towards his classmates' direction, unaware and even unbothered to find out who has feelings for him — mainly because he has never been actually interested in these kind of stuff. And neither have you, your phone notifying you a heart as soon as you reach the doorway of your classroom.

The two of you are now glancing at your phones. Kuroo hasn't gotten any new heart and for a moment, he feels an unknown and strange knot building up in his stomach as he glances at your figure sitting at your desk at the other side of the room. He tries to brush those weird feelings off but things get worse the instant you turn your head and your gaze meets his. He feels tensed, like somebody's been holding his body tightly and preventing him from staying steady on his own seat properly.  
You ignore him, and you're quick to turn your phone off, obviously failing to ignore the little heart on your screen until the moment it turns black and your chemistry teacher makes her entrance.

"I'll assign some of you guys with your respective partners for this project," She starts, taking the piece of paper that Kuroo recognizes as the one he handed her the day before.  
"L/n, you'll be working with Kuroo."  
"You gotta be kidding me."

And this is the start of it all.

"Can you turn that damn phone off?"

It has not even been five minutes since you and Kuroo have sat down at one of the empty desks of the library, his phone buzzing continuously along with the obvious, and very annoying to your ears, whispering of the people around you. A few girls sitting across have been definitely eyeing Kuroo ever since he has stepped foot into the room and to say that you are annoyed, would be an understatement.  
You're literally glaring at them but they haven't seemed to notice you yet, too busy staring and probably whispering gross stuff about Kuroo's back facing them as he sits down.

"Why? Jealous that people love me?"

You groan in response at the familiar teasing and drop your textbooks on the desk violently.  
"Shh!" the librarian whispers and you can only give her an apologetic look before sitting in front of Kuroo, who's clearly entertained by the whole situation, an amused smile spread across his face.

"Piss off, rooster head," Glaring back at his complacent expression, you grab your pencil case and pull out your eraser, showing it to him, "I am not afraid to erase that ugly smug of yours from the face of the earth."  
You hear him hiss, yet his lips are still curved into a smile, literally screaming tease from every inch of his face.

"So scary." He whispers, eyes locked with yours, the sarcastic tone making your blood boil and you're close enough to slap the hell out of him if only you didn't care about your precious hand and what could've happened if it touched his skin.  
Rolling your eyes, you begin to open your textbook, solely focusing on the project that, for the love of God, you're forced to do with your worst enemy.  
"If that damn phone keeps buzzing one more time, you're a dead man Kuroo Tetsuro."

The guy nods, more like to himself than to you, turning his phone off afterwards. Then suddenly, his gaze falls upon your phone placed right next to the pile of books you've picked from the bookshelves a few minutes ago. He raises an eyebrow, staring at the dark screen, meaning that you've probably turned it off. For a moment, he has the urge to ask you about the Love Alarm and if you've found out who that heart floating on your screen belongs to but, considering the current situation and the way your expression is screaming "don't talk to me or you're dead", he decides to stay quiet and begin with the project as well.

Through various formulas and researches here and there, your mind feels dizzy and it's surely not because of your chemistry project. It's been two hours since you and Kuroo — surprisingly — have been working on it individually; of course because it's a project, the little interactions cannot be helped and the two of you try to minimize them as much as possible, just passing notes to each other and giving a careless thumbs up to one another, you almost look like you've been chosen to act in a silent movie.

While writing down the few informations you've gotten from your textbook, your mind suddenly gets back to where your dizziness has started. Biting on your lower lip, your gaze shifts from a focused Kuroo to your phone, that one heart from the Love Alarm popping up when Kuroo reached you after your classes ended, resurfacing from the back of your head. And you hope, with all you've got, that this has nothing to do with Kuroo Tetsuro as you're assuming deep inside of you. It cannot be possible.

"Now, now, what's the problem here?" Yaku interrupts the quarrel between you and Kuroo (obviously), walking towards the two of you, a sigh escaping his lips as if he's getting ready to face another one of your many silly arguments.

"Your friend is the problem!" Kuroo bursts out once again, making you grunt loudly at the sound of his annoying voice reaching your ears, "Can't even cooperate on a project."

You gasp at his accusatory tone, hand dramatically placed on your chest, "Excuse me? All I said is that I don't think doing the project at your house is a good idea!" You raise your voice, exasperated. But you have your own reasons for not giving up on his request and end up arguing with him once again instead. Clearly, explaining it to Kuroo would never be something you'd ever do even if it were your last choice.

Yaku stands between the two of you, hands on his hips. He watches you and then Kuroo, shaking his head: all of this just reminds him of his high school days and how he and Kuroo used to fight over stupid things all the time as well. Yaku sure is aware that he cannot blame you: you've basically known his friend since diapers even way before they met, so you definitely know better than that. 

Because despite being the good person that he really is, there's no doubt, like any other human, that Kuroo still has some sort of invincible pride inside of him that would bite on anyone who dares to approach him like a snake attacking its prey.

"Then what about your house?!" Kuroo interrupts Yaku's wandering thoughts.  
You let out a bitter laugh, as if you've just heard the funniest joke ever, "Are you even listening to yourself? I'm never letting you step into my house."  
"Oh, see?" The ravenette groans, pointing a finger at you and looking at Yaku like he's trying to get his sympathy, "So petty. You really want us to fail on this project because of that pride of yours."

"That's not it! Why can't we just do it at the library like last time?!"  
"You know my phone would keep buzzing if we were in a public place!"  
"Then delete that app, oh my God! Is it that hard?!"  
"Can you two just shut the hell up?!" Yaku raises his voice, but it doesn't seem to give any effects on the two of you, still glaring at each other with smoldering fire increasing inside your irises. 

"This is ridiculous, really." Kuroo spits out, holding the strap of his bag tightly before turning around to walk away speechless. By the time he's nowhere to be seen, you let out an exasperated sigh as you rest the back of your head against the lockers, eyes closed and arms crossed to your chest. The fight was just too intense for you to realize that there's not a soul in sight in your school's hallway and people must have probably heard the two of you yelling from their classes.

"What's up with you two…" Yaku mutters, standing right beside you as he leans his head against the lockers as well, "Always arguing. It's been years, aren't you tired?"  
You know he's not scolding you. His tone is calm, giving you comfort and emotional support as if you've been fighting relentlessly against your own demons and he's there to tell you that you're letting them get the best of you.

Wordlessly, you grab your phone from your pocket as Yaku's watching you curiously. Turning it on, your screen lights up and the familiar app's under the two of you's sight.  
'No one within a 10-meter radius loves you.' The Love Alarm announces.

"I knew it."

"Huh?"

"I knew it," you repeat again, more to yourself than to him, turning around to look at your friend, only to be met with his confused expression, "The alarm rang when Kuroo approached me."

Things have been pretty normal today. As per usual, you're sitting on a table with the guys, the canteen crowded with people talking lively around the four of you. Lev is opening his Love Alarm for the seventh time in the span of three minutes, the groan escaping his lips getting louder everytime he sees the empty screen and the words signaling that there's no one loving him within a 10-meters radius, much to his dismay. You and Yaku have been laughing ever since, finding the poor guy's desperate expressions amusing.

"I'm telling you guys, it's broken!" The grey haired guy pulls out an excuse, far away from being plausible. Kenma snickers, earning a glare from him.  
"Just accept it," Yaku shrugs, "Whoever's that tasteless to like you is not even in this canteen."

Suddenly, a ring from a Love Alarm reaches your ears and the four of you look at each other.  
"Whose phone was that?" Lev asks, glancing painfully at his and seeing that nothing has changed as it's still heartless.

"I have it off right now." Yaku raises both of his hands defensively.  
"I don't even have it." Kenma replies.  
The guys look at you. Quietly, you grab your phone and glance at it. 

There's one heart on the screen.

"What the hell, I thought we all agreed on eating together?" Kuroo Tetsuro.

You swear you can feel your heart skip a beat for a moment, his voice echoing through your ears. You know he's standing right behind, not taking the empty seat next to you due to many reasons. 

First of all, the two of you haven't talked in days, which is completely normal for two people who despise each other. But you both know how bad this situation is getting: ignoring each other's presence completely as well as your unfinished project, done individually and not even bothering to ask the other's opinion, not a single message, a glance, an accidental bump in the hallway... None of that. 

And really, it's fine for you, you've been wishing for this since you were still a kid, for Kuroo to stop bothering you or fate to bring you two in an awkward situation which would always end up in a stupid fight. But it's that damn app, ringing every time he passes by, that you get reminded of that day you found out that Kuroo Tetsuro, your one and only enemy that you've pledged to despise for the rest of your life, may have feelings for you. And it has you wondering, what exactly does Kuroo feel about you?

Because there's no doubt in that, your Love Alarm just rings everytime he comes closer within a 10-meters radius and even Yaku has witnessed that with his own eyes.  
Yet somehow, you're still trying to convince yourself that this guy hates you as much as you do. He hates your guts ever since you were little. He's arrogant, prideful and is too full of himself too when it comes to showing off whatever he's good at. 

That's how you've always viewed him as and you're too adamant to even let yourself rethink about your thoughts for even a second.

And apparently, you're not the only one whose mind is too hazy to even process and reply to the poor guy, standing in silent in front of your table.  
You swear you can feel Kuroo's sharp stare on your back penetrating through your soul and for a moment, you're completely breatheless. It's only when Kenma finally decides to speak for everyone, whose eyes never dare to leave the phone in your hand, that you suddenly feel like you've just resurfaced from the waters keeping you drowned just a few seconds ago.

"Yeah, sorry we forgot," Kenma says, putting his phone into his pocket, "You have extracurricular classes, right?"  
"Well, I do now," Kuroo responds firmly, sighing afterwards, "And since no one was replying to my texts, I figured you guys ditched me."  
"Sorry bro! We can eat together next time!" You watch as Lev lets out a nervous laugh, the confusion of what has just happened in the span of five minutes still evident in his eyes.  
"Hm.. 'Kay. I'll see you, then."

Everyone waves at him but you, not even daring to move from your own seat, as if with one wrong movement, things would immediately go downhill.  
But before you can even let out a sigh of relief and proceed to turn off your phone, your eyes widen in surprise as soon as you feel someone's presence right next to you, their hot breath hitting right against your ear and sending shivers down your spine, you're left completely numb to even turn around: especially because you know who it is. "Library. 4PM sharp."

And with those words, you furrow your eyebrows. Not only you haven't spoken to him since that argument from days ago, but Kuroo Tetsuro even had the audacity to come to you acting like nothing happened and give you this short, and dry order.

"Who do you think you are-" By the time you turn around, you're met with Kuroo's back leaving the canteen already until he has finally disappeared, along with the heart floating on your Love Alarm.  
A violent slam makes you flinch as it reaches your ears and you look back at the table, Lev's large hand being the cause of it. His emerald irises are piercing you, as if eager to get an answer to the confusion eating him alive, "Explain." 

"What's there to explain?" You're beyond pissed off with how you spit out your response, and you suddenly feel Yaku's hand caressing your thigh as if trying to calm you down.  
"Why did your Love Alarm ring when Kuroo approached us?" Lev is persistent, and you're close to snap in front of him, in front of everyone else.

"How am I supposed to know that?! How am I even supposed to feel knowing that my worst enemy literally has feelings for me?!"  
"Just confront him about it."  
Everyone's gaze shifts to Kenma, who's been silent the whole time. Now you're looking at him in disbelief. Kenma is the closest one to Kuroo, being the nice kid who also used to hand you his videogames in kindergarten, along with the gameboy that his childhood friend threw away, "Y/N, confront him about it." He repeats.

"Never," You reply decisively, "He's the one who's supposed to be honest with his feelings." It almost feels surreal to pronounce those words out loud, like you're lying to yourself at that very moment. But no, honestly, everything feels surreal. It's the fact that you and Kuroo have been enemies since day one for no absolute reason other than your first ever fight when you were still kids. But kids do fight sometimes, so what's there to bring all the tantrum until the two of you grew up? Obviously, it just feels useless to try to talk to him, as the two of you have never had a decent conversation without leading everything into a fight. 

"I'm pretty sure he still hasn't figured out his feelings himself," Yaku mutters, "So can you both like.. talk in a peaceful manner? No fights. No teasing and mocking. Trust us Y/N, Tetsuro is a good person." You know he's speaking from his heart as he suddenly drops to the first name basis. Yaku's looking at you with the most sincere eyes you've ever seen from him and you gulp. 

But you know, that actions clearly speak louder than words. And you simply cannot see yourself talking to Kuroo about something so serious, something that has to do with romantic feelings which you have never even experienced before.  
"Tetsuro is a good person." Kenma repeats Yaku's words and, for the first time, you purposely let those words get into your head. 

The library is almost empty, which is quite unusual for a Friday afternoon, but you wouldn't find yourself complaining. However, the only problem is your phone. The Love Alarm, precisely. You've looked around plenty of times already and, the more you glance at the tables emptying, the more you feel like drowning into the arms of your demons, as if letting them drag you down at the slightest sign of succumb.

You let out another sigh as you watch the last person collecting their books and standing up, leaving the library. Now it's just you, Kuroo and the old librarian, mindlessly watching whatever drama (you can notice from the way she's trying her best to suppress the tears) on her laptop.  
You find yourself fidgeting with your pencil, arching your back nervously and sometimes brushing your legs against Kuroo's for how many times you've shifted in your own seat. In all honesty, you could just continue with the project, but you desperately need your phone for your last research and unfortunately for you, whose luck left your side, your Love Alarm is the thing you last opened before you stepped foot into the library. 

Obviously, it was ringing the moment you approached Kuroo at the table.  
And with Kuroo being the only person in the library, opening your phone and letting him notice that you have a heart on your Love Alarm wouldn't even be the last thing you'd do, even if the world was ending.

And of course, you're even way too stubborn to let your guard down and ask him for help. Silently, you glance at him from the sidelines. His head is lowered down, eyes fixated on his textbooks.  
It almost looks like a sight to behold and for the first time, you find yourself staring at your enemy's face with no resentment whatsoever. You notice how long his eyelashes are, almost complementing his dark eyes, one of them covered by that usual fringe of his naturally dark and messy hair. His half closed eyelids, always giving him a sleepy look, actually look very charming, and you can tell how much charisma he can hold by a simple glance at anyone. He almost looks good, you must say.

"Are you done?" 

You almost drop your pencil at his sudden question and by the time he turns around to look at you, you have your eyes fixated back on your textbook.  
"Almost. I just need.. one more thing." You answer with all the calmness you've got.

He hums in response and you can feel him leaning closer to you, reading your work silently. You feel suppressed by an unknown and enormous force, as you feel your heart holding onto your throat like your life depends on it - then Kuroo's leg is brushing against yours and he doesn't seem to notice, nor does it seem accidental.  
"Hmmm…" He hums once again, placing a finger on your the words written down your paper. It's just surreal how you're the one whose heart is beating too fast, as if it could break your ribcage at any given moment, a strange knot building up in your stomach, while Kuroo is just acting like all of this is normal, like you've never been at each other's throat for the past years. In fact, today is the first time the two of you haven't irritated one another. 

And of course, you're not complaining. You're not gonna lie, a peaceful moment with Kuroo happens too rarely to not enjoy.

"Oh, okay, so you need something more here," He points at the formula you left unfinished, "I don't think it's on any of our textbook, so just go search on Google."  
"Can't." Is the only thing you manage to mutter. 

Kuroo looks at you questioningly, "Huh, why?" He then points at your phone, "Just search it so we can finish."  
You shake your head, feeling your lips dry and unable to let out simple words. 

The guy beside you snicker, and the moment his charming eyes meet yours, you're left astonished. 

In that empty library, around those numerous bookshelves full of textbooks and some books that hide the romantic life you've always thought never existed outside those pages, Kuroo Tetsuro looks completely different from what you've always seen him as. You can't even let yourself think of anything other than the words of your friends and, of your heart.

Kuroo is a good person.

The big smile spreading across his face, that you've always seen as that challenging, and intolerable smirk you've wished you could erase forcefully, is genuine this time. And perhaps, it has always been. There's a strong feeling inside of you that has you realize that perhaps, Kuroo has always looked at you genuinely, lovingly even.  
It's just a nature of his to act so childish at times, but you've never let him get through you and know him more than as your enemy since day one.

And by the time you get back to reality from your own thoughts, your eyes widen as you see Kuroo's hands on your phone, screen lighting up and, before you can even process anything else, you cup his cheeks and pull him close into a kiss. He drops your phone once again, the sound of your Love Alarm ringing echoing through your ears but, the two of you are too busy to even mind it. 

Closing your eyes, you let Kuroo press his lips harder, closer to yours. You can tell he's eager, from the way he brings his hands to cup your face as well, tilting his head to kiss you better, as if his life completely depens on it.  
Despite the greediness getting the best of him the more he's savoring the sweet taste of your soft lips, he's still gentle. Gentle, like he's always been, caring from the way his arms evnelop your body and place his hands on your back, he's living for it as much as you are.

There's a slight bitterness when he bites on your lower lip, a soft groan escaping your lips as soon as you decide to pull him away, unwillingly.  
And suddenly, the room feels quieter. No words are exchanged between the two of you until another ring is heard coming from Kuroo's phone.

He's quick to hold it and turn the screen on, his Love Alarm showing one single heart floating on the screen.  
You grab your phone as well, and the two of you remain on your seats facing each other, your alarms speaking louder than any other word.

"Do you think we'd argue again if I told you that I've liked you since I threw away your gameboy in kindergarten?" He whispers, his eyes sparkling at the sight of your complacent expression.

"Why did you even do that?"

"I wanted you to play with me instead."

**Author's Note:**

> the app in this fic is purely inspired by the k-drama "love alarm"! <3 (this was a repost from my old tumblr blog)


End file.
